Support came from an offshoot project of the Howling Bells. We didn't think much of this lot. Dirge like.
But we had paid our money to see the Killers. In support of a new album, they opened with the new single from it, The Man, which was excellent and set the tone for the evening.
I suppose I could make two observations about the band, on top of the many I have made before (I had after all seen them play in Hyde Park only two months ago). One is that there can rarely have been a band whose lead singer is as much of a contrast as Brandon is to his band mates. While they are a big, static and hairy lot, Brandon is lithe, clean shaven and dynamic. As a show the Killers are all Brandon Flowers. Musicianship is another thing. Even having lost a couple of original guitarists they sound very good.
Which leads me into my second point. They write great songs more than produce great music. Radiohead, say, produce great music. The Killers just go from great song to great song. Never mind the lyrics (Human - "Are we human, or are we dancers" Really? Are they the only two options?), you just want to sing along to them. And this set just ploughed through all their albums showcasing so many great songs (plus their Joy Division cover of Shadowplay) with particular reference to Hot Fuss, which probably had their best anthems on - Somebody Told Me, Smile Like You Mean it, And you're a Star, and finishing the set with All These Things That I have Done followed by Mr Brightside. Just a perfect set. And this means you really do want to see them, rather than just sit at home and listen to their cds.
On the minus side, possibly the hottest sweatiest gig I have been to. I swear on leaving there was a mist - we had created our own cloud from sweat!
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